As the home of the New York Philharmonic, sound was prioritized in the redesign of the new hall to an almost fanatical degree. The hall was stripped and reshaped and now bears little resemblance to the old Avery Fisher Hall, visually or acoustically. The renovations are nearly complete, and the Philharmonic is now rehearsing in its new home while the paint is drying, and the balcony handrails are still wrapped in plastic. On the day the hall opens they will perform in an immersive multimedia performance of Etienne Charles’ San Juan Hill, which tells a story through music, and original first person accounts, of the neighborhood that was destroyed to build Lincoln Center. Lincoln Center’s newest addition, the refurbished home of the New York Philharmonic, David Geffen Hall-named after a 100-million-dollar gift from the billionaire and entertainment industry magnate-will have its grand opening on October 8.

The eye relaxes when it lands on this island of bone white elegance in an ocean of corporate monoliths. The beloved limestone Lincoln Center campus, now six decades old, warmed and smoothed by the patina of age and use, is a bright spot in a part of the city that can feel aesthetically and spiritually bereft. It takes a special kind of cynic to stand beside the Revson Fountain in Lincoln Center, gaze up at the Chagall murals inside the opera house, and not feel the tiniest bit thrilled.

“It’s really to reinvent the sound of the orchestra.” (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) It’s “almost like you’re going on a safari for sound,” said Jaap van Zweden, the philharmonic’s music director since 2018. The hall itself is getting trial runs, with the famed symphony testing their pieces as acousticians make adjustments to wall and ceiling panels to ensure warm, rich tones. – The New York Philharmonic is getting in tune as they prepare to open their brand-new performance space next month - and it’s not only the instruments that need to strike the perfect pitch. The New York Philharmonic rehearses at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center on September 19, 2022, in New York City.

Grand tier metropolitan opera house